Happy #AssistanceDogDay! 🐾 An assistance dog is a canine trained to perform tasks that support people with disabilities out in the @blindnewworld.bsky.social. This includes our library #GuideDog friends, Idabelle and Jazzy, who started their guiding journeys at a very young age! 🐶
Perkins Library
@perkinslibrary.bsky.social
Perkins Library provides free services to Massachusetts residents who have difficulty reading print materials due to a disability. We are a part of Perkins School for the Blind. Learn more at PerkinsLibrary.org.
Take a leisurely walk alongside the sandy beaches and blue waves of #CapeCod in our latest narrated #Soundscape episode! 🐚 Your narrators are our very own Perkins Library Director Kim Charlson and Children’s and Young Adult Services Librarian Andrea Everett! Listen now: https://bit.ly/3TqQA58
Previously, we highlighted the #Braille on the 2026 Winter Paralympic medals, and now, for the first time, the 2026 #CommonwealthGames taking place in Glasgow, Scotland also feature braille on their medals! 🏅 https://bit.ly/4wpxvPc
Glasgow Commonwealth Games make history after debuting first-ever braille-designed medals
The 2026 Commonwealth Games organisers unveiled a unique feature with medals designed with braille and tactile elements, marking a historic step toward inclusivity at the quadrennial sporting event.
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Having trouble reading printed text, completing paperwork, or enjoying hobbies that require seeing fine details? 🔍 Our patrons can get long-term loans of electronic video magnifiers, also known as CCTVs! For more information: Email Erin.Fragola@Perkins.org or call 617-972-7247
As part of the NLS and Braille Institute #SummerReading programs, wade into the wetlands in the newest Narrated Soundscapes episode. This week, we’re exploring #EvergladesNationalPark in Florida. 💧 Listen now: https://bit.ly/3TqQA58
Time to trade in your summer barbecues and lemonade for candy canes and hot cocoa! It's #ChristmasInJuly here at Perkins Library! 🎄 Let the countdown to the holidays begin with these #RecommendedReads. https://bit.ly/4yBmXOp
Recommended Reads: Christmas in July
Your days lately may be filled with beach trips and barbecues, but with only five months to go, the Christmas creep has begun!
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Assistive technology is reshaping the way we think about pediatric healthcare and shows that inclusive design not only benefits those with disabilities, but everyone! ❤️🩹 #AssistiveTechnology #Healthcare #Pediatrics https://bit.ly/3TNrYU4
when care learns to play: how design is reshaping pediatric healthcare
from sailboat-inspired IV stands to paintable sensors, designers are rethinking everyday medical devices across pediatric healthcare.
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Today is the 36th anniversary of the Americans with #Disabilities Act. ♿ Much progress has been made, but there is still plenty to be done to meet the #ADA's goals of full participation, independent living, equality of opportunity, and economic self-sufficiency. #ADA36
A joint South Korean/American team of researchers have developed robotic clothing that could assist people with limited mobility to dress in just ten seconds! 👕 What do you think of this #AssistiveTechnology? https://bit.ly/4fuqjdr
This Robotic Clothing Wraps Around You in Just 10 Seconds
A joint South Korea–U.S. research team has introduced a new form of robotic clothing that can dress a wearer automatically in around 10 seconds.
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In honor of #DisabilityPrideMonth, check out these recommendations by activists, scholars, and storytellers who write with the spirit of the #DisabilityRights fight. ✊ Find the full list at: Perkins.org/MA250
Our Summer Reading participants had a whale of a time meeting Nile, a life-sized inflatable humpback whale, right on the @PerkinsVision campus! 🐋 Thanks to the Whalemobile team for swimming by and sharing their passion with us! 🐳 #Whalemobile #SummerReading #Whales
Congrats to our intern, Emma Brinkley, who is a recipient of an ALA Elder Justice Task Force mini-grant! 👏 Emma earned this honor from her digital/health literacy projects at Simmons University and the work she has done to help serve disabled patrons at Perkins Library!
The Worcester Talking Book Library is hosting an art show that turns classic works of art into tactile exhibits through August 15. 🖼️ Plan to visit this immersive and interactive experience! https://bit.ly/3Ry8PVA
Worcester Library Hosts Tactile Art Exhibit
The Worcester Public Library announced the opening of an interactive tactile exhibit at its main branch, at 3 Salem Sq., starting July 15.
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Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 was the first federal civil rights law to explicitly protect disabled people from discrimination. 50+ years later, a number of lawsuits threaten such protections. Learn how to take action: https://bit.ly/4w88rMM
The Importance of Section 504 for the Future of Disability Rights - Disability Belongs™
Learn about current debates around Section 504 and how disability rights can be protected and strengthened.
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Our friends at DISCO are hosting an outdoor storytelling event in for Disability Pride Month! Stories, music, food, and partying! 🗓️ July 25 🕕 6-9PM 📍 Follow Your Art Community Studios, 647 Main St, Melrose, MA Want to share a story? Email: Info@DisabledStoriesCollective.org
We had a great time at the Boston's ADA Day celebrating the 36th anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act! ♿ It was a day of inspirational speakers, a disability resource fair, food, and fun! #ADADay #DisabilityPrideMonth
For our next #LibraryWithoutWalls, three acclaimed writers will come together to discuss their work, creative process, and how disability, identity, and lived experience shape their writing. 🗓️ July 21, 2026 🕑 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. 📍 Zoom To register, call 617-972-7852.
Did you know that Perkins has its own adaptation of the #DisabilityPride Flag? ♿ Though ours differs slightly, both versions include five diagonal stripes cutting across a dark background to represent people with different types of disabilities breaking through barriers.
In an exciting development for assistive mobility technology, researchers at the Medical University of Vienna have created a hand exoskeleton that incorporates electrical neurostimulation. #AssistiveTechnology #Mobility #Robotics https://bit.ly/4bhPf6y
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As part of the NLS and Braille Institute #SummerReading programs, visit the volcanoes at #HawaiiVolcanoes National Park in the second Narrated Soundscapes episode! 🌋 Listen here: bit.ly/43jFn7G
Perkins Library will be at the City of Boston's #ADA Day celebration next Wednesday, July 15! ♿ Join us from 12-2 for speeches, resources, food, and fun! Register today: https://bit.ly/4fblB4l
ADA Day 2026
ADA Day is a yearly celebration of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The event is held in Boston every July around the anniversary of the ADA signing. This two hour lunchtime event i...
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For our next "Pages to Popcorn" books-turned-movies club, we're reading "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption" and watching "The Shawshank Redemption." 🍿 Join the film viewing and discussion: Contact Gina Russo at 617-972-7683 or Gina.Russo@Perkins.org.
NLS will host a Patron Corner celebrating 20 years of BARD. The program will feature NLS narrators who have experienced both sides of the coin. 🎙️ 🗓️ Monday, July 13 🕖 7 PM ET 📍 Via Zoom To get the Zoom link, leave a message on the Perkins Tele-fun line: 617-972-7272
For July's reading challenge, read a book found at a Little Free Library, tag sale, or used book store! 📚 Submit your books to the Massachusetts Center for the Book by the end of each month to be entered for prizes! Sign up for the challenge today: MAReadingChallenge.org
In a special series celebrating Disability Pride Month, Marvel is focusing on several superhero characters with disabilities. #DisabilityPrideMonth #Marvel https://bit.ly/4wgglD8
'Amazing Spider-Man,' Other Comics Spotlight Disability Storylines
In a series of special issues that are about to drop, Marvel Comics is putting the focus on a half dozen heroes with various disabilities.
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Happy Independence Day and happy 250 years to the United States of America! 🎆 We hope everyone has a fun and safe celebration! 🎇
Paleontologist Riley Black (she/they) will bring dinosaurs back to life–through narrative! Join us on Friday, July 10 at 4 pm! 🦕 Summer Reading registrants will receive a Zoom link via email for this event. Register for Summer Reading: tinyurl.com/PerkinsSummer26
Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks celebration will be presented with live audio description on Saturday evening, July 4, 2026 from 8-10 PM ET (5-7 PM PT) on NBC. 🎆 Live audio description will be provided by Descriptive Video Works via Network SAP. #Fireworks #AudioDescription
Celebrate #DisabilityPrideMonth with these 31 recommended reads offering authentic perspectives of the joys, the struggles, and the activism of the disability community. ♿ One rec for every day of July! Happy Pride! https://bit.ly/4fapY0q
Recommended Reads: A book a day for Disability Pride Month
Celebrate Disability Pride Month with 31 books (one for each day in July!) that feature authentic perspectives from the disability community.
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In observance of Independence Day, Perkins Library will be closed on Friday, July 3. 🎆 Normal hours will resume on Monday.